B/c that is the rumor from a German Sony supplier.  Take it with a grain of salt.  Nevertheless, if true, what could lie in store for Sony?  Customers would only have to choose between the HDD size, console finish*, and multimedia reader ports.

*Which is not too serious of a decision.

Source: http://www.qj.net/Rumor-PS2-backwards-compatibility-for-40GB-PS3-in-October/pg/49/aid/120806

Don't think that this would be a game changer in any way. But it would be a cool upgrade for the 40Gb version.

I think we should see what the 80GB re-introduction does in NA....its effect will tell us of what the BC 40GB SKU would do

If I knew it as fact that the 40GB PS3 would have BC by this fall, then I would probably go pick it up primarily as a Blue-Ray player with that $100 gift-card deal.

However, I don't think it will have that much affect overall, because a lot of people still don't realize that the 40GB is not backwards compatible. A friend of mine picked up a 40GB with GTAIV and didn't know until I told him. I'm sure it would give it a boost, but probably not that much.

I think it was more crucial not to drop it in the first place, as that just gave the PS3 bad press, and deterred some buyers.

even if they get BC for 40 gig it will not be able to play nearly as many games as the 80 gig, much less than 60 gig. I don't think that many people are interested in half ass BC, if you can only play half your library of games, you're more than likely to just keep your PS2 to play it on.